I did it! I completed my first half marathon. 13.1 miles of pavement pounding that was both fantastic and painful at the same time.
The week leading up to the race I had decided that I would not do any running. My shin was still killing me from the run up Bankhead Parkway on March 29. I did my normal swim and bike workout on Monday morning and then rode my bike around Research Park on Tuesday. I was going to do something light on Wednesday, but decided to have an extra rest day instead. I had three full days of rest before the race. My shin was feeling better, but not 100%. I could finally pull my toes up about 75% the full range of motion before the pain kicked in. On Friday afternoon at work, I decided to do a little jog around the lab to see how my shin felt. Surprisingly, it was fine. A little achy, but no sharp pains. At that point, I declared I was ready for the race.
Also, the entire week, I really watched what I ate. I had the same breakfast all week (protein shake, banana, and yogurt). I ate sandwiches and salads for lunch and didn’t overeat for dinner. Oh, and no late night snacking. I believe that really paid off because I didn’t have any digestion issues during the race at all. That’s all I will say about that.
Race Day:
My alarm was set for 4:30, but I woke up at 4:20. Tracey wanted to sleep until 5:00, so I quietly got out of bed and got a shower. I know it seems pointless to shower before race, but for me a shower in the morning is like a big cup of coffee. It wakes me up and makes me feel refreshed. I had a small cup of coffee, some peanut butter on a piece of bread, and some apple slices. We got all our stuff packed up and headed out on the hour long drive up to Lynchburg at about 5:45.
The drive up was really nice. We had some music playing and watched the sunrise over the mountains. I remember this one valley we drove into that was absolutely gorgeous and the sun was just over the horizon lighting up all the dew on the grass and trees in this valley. It was such a beautiful drive up there and got us excited knowing that it was going to be a beautiful day for the race. We got to Lynchburg around 7:00 and had plenty of time to get our packets, get all our stuff together, stop by the porta-potties, stretch, and go for a quick warm-up run.
We lined up near the 9:00 min/mile sign. My strategy was to run 9:00 min/miles until Whiskey Hill. Then, slow down while going up the hill, then just keep a steady pace after that.
The Star Spangled Banner was sung, then the announcer said something (we couldn’t understand him because everyone else was talking, too), then we heard “GO!”. And we were off. Even though there were 1050 participants in the race, it really wasn’t that crowded. Once we got past the start line, Tracey and I just found a nice comfortable pace around 9:10 min/mile. People kept passing us, which was really frustrating me. It’s so hard to hold back at the beginning of a race. I just had to keep telling myself that I had to run my own race and not worry about others passing me. Tracey was reinforcing this to me. I finally stopped letting it bother me and just focused on my race.
About a mile into the race I got a sharp pain in my shin. My first thought was I couldn’t finish the race. I thought I was done. My first ever DNF. However, the pain was short lived. A few strides later, it was gone. This would happen again several times throughout the race. Going downhill was more painful for my shin. I had to slow myself down on the downhills because I thought if I got going too fast and that pain came back I might fall down. Also, there were several parts of the course where the road was slanted so that my feet were uneven. That made my shin hurt, as well. I quickly learned to find the flattest part of the road.
Whiskey Hill
Prior to Whiskey Hill, we were going along at a good pace. There was a good crowd of people running around us. We were probably in the middle of the pack. We were enjoying the scenery and talking and joking with each other. Tracey and I usually don’t get to go on runs together. This was a nice opportunity to get to do a long run together. I remember the first hill was steep but it was short. When we got to the top, there was quite the odor of cow manure. After that was Whiskey Hill. It wasn’t all that steep at first. Just like the hills around Research Park where I have run so many times. Then, out of nowhere, it seemed to me, it got steep. It reminded me a lot of my run up Bankhead Parkway. That’s what I told myself as I was running up it. I told myself I did this two weeks ago and it was a lot steeper and a lot further. I kept on chugging. Tracey ran a few yards ahead of me to keep me motivated. Finally, it started to get even steeper. At this point, we could see the top but it was going to be a lot of work to get there. I kept pushing. I was determined that I did not want to walk. We were passing people that were already walking. I kept telling myself that I’ve been doing hill training for months, just trust my training and get to the top. Just before the last 100 yards of Whiskey Hill there is a switchback. That switchback is really steep. When I got to it, I had to stop and walk for about 10 seconds. Then, I started running again and pushed to the top. I had learned from the Cotton Row 10k last year to take plenty of time to recover after the hill. So, I did. I was doing 13:00 min/miles, but I had to recover if I was going to finish this race.
After that, the race was mostly flat or downhill. There were two more short steep hills and one gradual hill. But, they were not bad.
The Downhill
This race was very well run. There were water stops about every two miles. I took water or Gatorade every time. I sweat a lot and I did not want to carry my own water. So, I’m thankful for all the water stops. The rest of the run was just the grind of going from miles 6 through 13. One of the things I noticed is we saw the same people over and over. They would pass us, then we would pass them, etc. Everyone has their ups and downs. You don’t usually see that in a 5k or 10k. Speaking of downs, there was one guy that had to get picked up by the ambulance. We don’t know what happened, but we expect he was dehydrated. When we passed, they had him on a stretcher rolled on his side and he was vomiting. I hope he’s okay and gets to back to running soon.
Going downhill for the last 4 miles were nice because they were downhill. But, they were also painful for me because both of my calves were cramping. First, it was my left calf. I could feel my toes starting to curl which means my calf wants to cramp up. I tried extending my stride to stretch my calf which worked well. Once my left calf stopped acting up, my right calf started doing the same thing. Then, after a while, both were cramping up. Basically, the last two miles of the race I was doing everything I could to stretch them out short of stopping and stretching. In hindsight, that’s maybe what I should have done. I may have been better off stopping and stretching for one minute than enduring the discomfort.
The Finish
When we got back on the main highway that lead back to Lynchburg, I knew I was going to make it. I was ready to be done. I was actually getting hungry and ready to stretch my calves so they would stop cramping. At this point, I had my music cranked up and was singing to keep my mind off the pain. We started seeing some people that had already finished coming back to watch their friends finish. I knew we were getting close. Seeing mile marker 12 got me motivated. The longest run I had ever done prior to this was 12.28 miles. I knew I was about to break that personal record. Also, I told myself there was only 10 minutes of running left and I would be done. I could do this for another 10 minutes.
I saw the crowd of people up ahead, which I knew meant the end was near. I maintained my same pace until I made a turn and saw the finish line. I sped up as fast as I could go (which was not fast). I heard the announcer calling out people’s names. I didn’t hear my name called, but Tracey said she heard it. I thought that was a nice touch. I crossed the finish line at 2:11:56. My goal was to be below 2:10. However, because I had the shin injury holding me back, I’m not disappointed in my time. I think I did as well as I expected. I never completely ran out of steam. I only had to walk for a very short time up Whiskey Hill and I finished strong. As I ran through the chute, I grabbed a medal and a water bottle and kept walking around. I had to keep walking to avoid the cramping in my calves. When I found Tracey again she gave me a hug and a kiss. I was so glad she stayed with me the entire race. It really helped to have someone to motivate me and to talk to.
Post-Race
We guzzled down some water and Gatorade, got some pizza, pancakes, and brunswick stew. They put on a great post-race party. We stayed there for a little while talking to friends and then headed back home. Tracey’s parents had taken the kids out to lunch, so we got to take a short nap and shower before they got home. That was really nice.
My first half marathon was definitely a great experience. I would love to do the Oak Barrel again. I’m not sure when I will do another half marathon. I don’t think it is something I will do but once or twice a year. It is a very challenging distance, especially for someone as heavy as me. Last year, I kept telling everyone I couldn’t do a half because of my weight. Well, I proved myself wrong.
Stats
Gun time: 2:11:56 (53rd out of 89 in Male 35-39 age group)
Chip time: 2:11:27
Overall pace: 10:02
Splits:
mi, Pace (min/mi), Elevation Gain (ft)
1, 9:10, -31
2. 9:20, -18
3, 9:25, 28
4, 10:04, 86
5, 11:30, 243
6, 9:56, -45
7, 10:09, 61
8, 9:30, -37
9, 10:08, -61
10, 9:58, -106
11, 9:50, -81
12, 10:03, -39
13, 10:37, -18
14, 11:38, 4
The week leading up to the race I had decided that I would not do any running. My shin was still killing me from the run up Bankhead Parkway on March 29. I did my normal swim and bike workout on Monday morning and then rode my bike around Research Park on Tuesday. I was going to do something light on Wednesday, but decided to have an extra rest day instead. I had three full days of rest before the race. My shin was feeling better, but not 100%. I could finally pull my toes up about 75% the full range of motion before the pain kicked in. On Friday afternoon at work, I decided to do a little jog around the lab to see how my shin felt. Surprisingly, it was fine. A little achy, but no sharp pains. At that point, I declared I was ready for the race.
Also, the entire week, I really watched what I ate. I had the same breakfast all week (protein shake, banana, and yogurt). I ate sandwiches and salads for lunch and didn’t overeat for dinner. Oh, and no late night snacking. I believe that really paid off because I didn’t have any digestion issues during the race at all. That’s all I will say about that.
Race Day:
My alarm was set for 4:30, but I woke up at 4:20. Tracey wanted to sleep until 5:00, so I quietly got out of bed and got a shower. I know it seems pointless to shower before race, but for me a shower in the morning is like a big cup of coffee. It wakes me up and makes me feel refreshed. I had a small cup of coffee, some peanut butter on a piece of bread, and some apple slices. We got all our stuff packed up and headed out on the hour long drive up to Lynchburg at about 5:45.
The drive up was really nice. We had some music playing and watched the sunrise over the mountains. I remember this one valley we drove into that was absolutely gorgeous and the sun was just over the horizon lighting up all the dew on the grass and trees in this valley. It was such a beautiful drive up there and got us excited knowing that it was going to be a beautiful day for the race. We got to Lynchburg around 7:00 and had plenty of time to get our packets, get all our stuff together, stop by the porta-potties, stretch, and go for a quick warm-up run.
We lined up near the 9:00 min/mile sign. My strategy was to run 9:00 min/miles until Whiskey Hill. Then, slow down while going up the hill, then just keep a steady pace after that.
The Star Spangled Banner was sung, then the announcer said something (we couldn’t understand him because everyone else was talking, too), then we heard “GO!”. And we were off. Even though there were 1050 participants in the race, it really wasn’t that crowded. Once we got past the start line, Tracey and I just found a nice comfortable pace around 9:10 min/mile. People kept passing us, which was really frustrating me. It’s so hard to hold back at the beginning of a race. I just had to keep telling myself that I had to run my own race and not worry about others passing me. Tracey was reinforcing this to me. I finally stopped letting it bother me and just focused on my race.
About a mile into the race I got a sharp pain in my shin. My first thought was I couldn’t finish the race. I thought I was done. My first ever DNF. However, the pain was short lived. A few strides later, it was gone. This would happen again several times throughout the race. Going downhill was more painful for my shin. I had to slow myself down on the downhills because I thought if I got going too fast and that pain came back I might fall down. Also, there were several parts of the course where the road was slanted so that my feet were uneven. That made my shin hurt, as well. I quickly learned to find the flattest part of the road.
Whiskey Hill
Prior to Whiskey Hill, we were going along at a good pace. There was a good crowd of people running around us. We were probably in the middle of the pack. We were enjoying the scenery and talking and joking with each other. Tracey and I usually don’t get to go on runs together. This was a nice opportunity to get to do a long run together. I remember the first hill was steep but it was short. When we got to the top, there was quite the odor of cow manure. After that was Whiskey Hill. It wasn’t all that steep at first. Just like the hills around Research Park where I have run so many times. Then, out of nowhere, it seemed to me, it got steep. It reminded me a lot of my run up Bankhead Parkway. That’s what I told myself as I was running up it. I told myself I did this two weeks ago and it was a lot steeper and a lot further. I kept on chugging. Tracey ran a few yards ahead of me to keep me motivated. Finally, it started to get even steeper. At this point, we could see the top but it was going to be a lot of work to get there. I kept pushing. I was determined that I did not want to walk. We were passing people that were already walking. I kept telling myself that I’ve been doing hill training for months, just trust my training and get to the top. Just before the last 100 yards of Whiskey Hill there is a switchback. That switchback is really steep. When I got to it, I had to stop and walk for about 10 seconds. Then, I started running again and pushed to the top. I had learned from the Cotton Row 10k last year to take plenty of time to recover after the hill. So, I did. I was doing 13:00 min/miles, but I had to recover if I was going to finish this race.
After that, the race was mostly flat or downhill. There were two more short steep hills and one gradual hill. But, they were not bad.
The Downhill
This race was very well run. There were water stops about every two miles. I took water or Gatorade every time. I sweat a lot and I did not want to carry my own water. So, I’m thankful for all the water stops. The rest of the run was just the grind of going from miles 6 through 13. One of the things I noticed is we saw the same people over and over. They would pass us, then we would pass them, etc. Everyone has their ups and downs. You don’t usually see that in a 5k or 10k. Speaking of downs, there was one guy that had to get picked up by the ambulance. We don’t know what happened, but we expect he was dehydrated. When we passed, they had him on a stretcher rolled on his side and he was vomiting. I hope he’s okay and gets to back to running soon.
Going downhill for the last 4 miles were nice because they were downhill. But, they were also painful for me because both of my calves were cramping. First, it was my left calf. I could feel my toes starting to curl which means my calf wants to cramp up. I tried extending my stride to stretch my calf which worked well. Once my left calf stopped acting up, my right calf started doing the same thing. Then, after a while, both were cramping up. Basically, the last two miles of the race I was doing everything I could to stretch them out short of stopping and stretching. In hindsight, that’s maybe what I should have done. I may have been better off stopping and stretching for one minute than enduring the discomfort.
The Finish
When we got back on the main highway that lead back to Lynchburg, I knew I was going to make it. I was ready to be done. I was actually getting hungry and ready to stretch my calves so they would stop cramping. At this point, I had my music cranked up and was singing to keep my mind off the pain. We started seeing some people that had already finished coming back to watch their friends finish. I knew we were getting close. Seeing mile marker 12 got me motivated. The longest run I had ever done prior to this was 12.28 miles. I knew I was about to break that personal record. Also, I told myself there was only 10 minutes of running left and I would be done. I could do this for another 10 minutes.
I saw the crowd of people up ahead, which I knew meant the end was near. I maintained my same pace until I made a turn and saw the finish line. I sped up as fast as I could go (which was not fast). I heard the announcer calling out people’s names. I didn’t hear my name called, but Tracey said she heard it. I thought that was a nice touch. I crossed the finish line at 2:11:56. My goal was to be below 2:10. However, because I had the shin injury holding me back, I’m not disappointed in my time. I think I did as well as I expected. I never completely ran out of steam. I only had to walk for a very short time up Whiskey Hill and I finished strong. As I ran through the chute, I grabbed a medal and a water bottle and kept walking around. I had to keep walking to avoid the cramping in my calves. When I found Tracey again she gave me a hug and a kiss. I was so glad she stayed with me the entire race. It really helped to have someone to motivate me and to talk to.
Post-Race
We guzzled down some water and Gatorade, got some pizza, pancakes, and brunswick stew. They put on a great post-race party. We stayed there for a little while talking to friends and then headed back home. Tracey’s parents had taken the kids out to lunch, so we got to take a short nap and shower before they got home. That was really nice.
My first half marathon was definitely a great experience. I would love to do the Oak Barrel again. I’m not sure when I will do another half marathon. I don’t think it is something I will do but once or twice a year. It is a very challenging distance, especially for someone as heavy as me. Last year, I kept telling everyone I couldn’t do a half because of my weight. Well, I proved myself wrong.
Stats
Gun time: 2:11:56 (53rd out of 89 in Male 35-39 age group)
Chip time: 2:11:27
Overall pace: 10:02
Splits:
mi, Pace (min/mi), Elevation Gain (ft)
1, 9:10, -31
2. 9:20, -18
3, 9:25, 28
4, 10:04, 86
5, 11:30, 243
6, 9:56, -45
7, 10:09, 61
8, 9:30, -37
9, 10:08, -61
10, 9:58, -106
11, 9:50, -81
12, 10:03, -39
13, 10:37, -18
14, 11:38, 4
Greg, Thank you for that race recap. I felt like I was right there with you! You have a very good way of writing descriptively about your run. I struggle with that! It is so great that you and Tracey are out there running together and being such a good example to your kids. Keep it up!
ReplyDeleteThanks Katie.
ReplyDelete